Brand New Friend


There's just one problem. Apart from knowing less than nothing about music trivia, football, and the vital statistics of supermodels, Rob's new friend has one huge flaw...She's a girl.

brand_new_Frien.jpgBrand New Friend

by Mike Gayle

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Brand New Friend tackles the subject of friendship between the sexes. Why did you choose this subject?

You can tell when a story hits the mark because no one can go near it for years. And that's exactly what happened with the question of friendship between the sexes after When Harry Met Sally came out. Over the years since I first saw it however I kept thinking to myself how there actually was more to say on the subject. First, most people do have friends of the opposite sex and do it quite successfully. Second, WHMS doesn't address the real problem with having friends of the opposite sex when one or other of you is actually in a relationship.

So where did you take the idea from this point?

I started with the idea of a guy making friends with a girl while he's already in a relationship. That to me was really putting the cat amongst the pigeons. Then I needed a cast-iron reason for them to be friends. This took longer but then one day when I was talking to a friend the answer came to me. My friend was considering moving cities with his partner and I couldn't get my head around the idea of leaving one life behind and starting another, especially when you're in your thirties. To me it was my worst nightmare and that's when I realised I had the perfect set-up for the story

Why did you choose to set it in Manchester?

It just made sense that if a cool graphic designer were going to leave London for another city, Manchester would probably be it. Plus, I know the city well from my university days and still have quite a few friends there.
Brand New Friend is set mainly in the suburb of Chorlton which you're not exactly complimentary about. Why is this?
First I think I should point that I absolutely love Chorlton. It's a fantastic place to live and if I were going to live in Manchester I'd be living there, regularly visiting the Horse and Jockey and lunching in The Lead Station. At the same time as loving Chorlton it's hard not to poke fun at it simply because it is so idyllic. I'm actually considering setting a couple more novels in Chorlton and turning them into a trilogy called the Chorlton Chronicles.

Do men really worry about making new friends?

Obviously I'm generalising but I have to say I think the answer is yes. The thing is male friendships tend to evolve very slowly. It takes us ages to bond properly and it's a process that under normal circumstances can't actually be speeded up. Also we like to make friends in an informal fashion so that it doesn't actually look like we're trying. This is, I think, the reason why men long ago invented public houses.

Have you ever been on a bloke date?

Yes, but not like the ones in the book. I've been in situations where I've got on so well with someone that we've arranged to meet up on a different occasion. Although both times they turned out fine at the time I have to admit I did feel a little nervous. I kept wondering about what would happen if we ran out of conversation or if we changed our minds and didn't like each other. I'm pretty sure all men don't think like this. Maybe it's just me.

Is the character of Jo based on anyone you know?

No she isn't. When I was thinking about who Jo would be I was trying to answer the question "What kind of woman would be best friends with a guy who has got a girlfriend?" She was pretty much the answer I was looking for. Jo and Rob are perfectly suited as friends because what they both want from their friendship is to be at ease.

What do you really think about the film Dirty Dancing and for that matter Scarface?

I'm afraid I've never seen "Dirty Dancing" although it's one of those films that seems so familiar I almost feel like I must have watched it at some point. It is however on my to do list. As for "Scarface" though I can remember kids at school quoting huge chunks of it in the playground I never saw it until a few years ago. Everything about it was so positively ridiculous I couldn't take it seriously at all.

....and Radiohead's post "The Bends" output?

Okay, I'll admit I like "Everything in its right place" but I just can't stand their desperate craving for credibility. It's music for chin strokers and it feels as though they were going out of their way to shed the fans that had made them the band that they were. I've actually got nothing against being obtuse (you should see the contents of my iPod) but put it this way: If OK computer and The Bends hadn't been hits would they really feel such a desperate need to become the Aphex Twin or would they be more concerned with good tunes so that they could do stuff like pay the bills? Discuss.

Do you have any close female friends?


All the way through Brand New Friend there's a strong feeling that Rob will end up with Jo. Why doesn't this happen?
Because I wanted Brand New Friend to be about the difficulties of friendship and having them get together would have detracted from that. Plus, I'm not sure that it would've worked between them anyway. Rob would have had to hurt Ashley in order to be with Jo and I think that would've affected their relationship in the long run.

So is the conclusion of Brand New Friend that men and women can't really be friends?

No, not at all. I think the conclusion of Brand New Friend is specific to Rob and Jo and their situation. But if there is a conclusion that should be taken from Brand New Friend it's that it's difficult to know what you're feeling when you haven't got the vocabulary to discuss it. It's all a bit 1984 and Thought Police-ish...or maybe not.

So do Eskimos really have fifty words for snow?

First off it's Inuits not Eskimos and secondly, the answer is no. It's one of those urban myths that apparently originated in the '80s. It's all a bit complicated and you'd be better off reading this for an explanation. Still, it's a nice idea though.

Tell us something we didn't already know about Brand New Friend.

One minor character in the Brand New Friend was originally going to be a real person because I thought that would be quite a funny thing to do. I had to take their name out of the book in the end however "for legal reasons."


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